Ultra-short throw. Bright. High quality for data images. Very few rainbow artifacts. Two HDMI ports. Miracast and WiDi. Full 3D support.

Cons

Visible lack of uniform brightness across the screen. Low contrast ratio with video. Could not establish a Miracast connection in my tests.

Bottom Line

The Dell S510n Projector delivers a bright WXGA image, with an ultra-short throw for big images from close to the screen.

In many ways, the Dell S510n Projector ($1,399.99) is one of the more capable WXGA (1,280-by-800), ultra-short-throw projectors for the price, with a bright image, generally high quality for data images, and far more watchable video than most DLP business models can manage. It's also limited by some image-quality issues—including a notably low contrast ratio with video.

Dell rates the S510n at 3,100 lumens, putting it in the same brightness class as the 3,200-lumen BenQ MW853UST+ and the 3,300-lumen Epson PowerLite 585W WXGA 3LCD Projector, which is our Editors' Choice WXGA ultra-short-throw model. As always, when talking about projectors, however, brightness comparisons are complicated by differences in technologies.

The Epson 585W is built around a three-chip LCD engine, which ensures that it has the same color brightness as white brightness. Both the Dell and BenQ models, in contrast, are built around single-chip DLP engines. That gives them a lower color brightness than white brightness, so full color images won't be as bright as you would expect based on the white brightness. The moral here is that being in the same brightness class doesn't necessarily mean that the S510n is as bright as the Epson 585W in real-world use.

Basics, Setup, and Throw DistanceThe S510n weighs in at 16 pounds 12 ounces, and it measures 9.1 by 14.4 by 14.1 inches (HWD), including the mirror near the back, off of which the image bounces on its way to the screen. That makes the projector small enough so you can put it on a table or cart for room-to-room portability, but big and heavy enough to be most appropriate for permanent installation in a mount.

Setup is typical for an ultra-short-throw projector, with a focus control and no optical zoom. According to Dell, the image size with the optional mount ($199.99) can range from 70 to 100 inches (measured diagonally) in the native 12:10 aspect ratio. For my tests, I used a 92-inch image with the front of the projector just 14 inches from the screen and the mirror in the back 13 inches further away.

The image inputs are all on a side panel, including the usual VGA port for a computer or component video, two HDMI ports, and a composite video port. Both HDMI ports offer full support for connecting to a 3D video source, with one supporting Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL).

In addition, there's a USB Type A port for reading files from a USB memory key and a USB Type B port for direct USB display, as well as for copying files to the 2GB internal memory for device-free presentations. There's also a LAN port for sending images and audio, as well as controlling the projector, over a network, and support for standard Wi-Fi, as well as WiDi and Miracast for easier connections. Miracast did not work in my tests with a Samsung Galaxy S5, but this is a new enough standard that it's not unusual to have incompatibilities between any two devices picked at random.

Brightness, Image Quality, and AudioUsing the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) recommendations as a point of reference, 3,100 lumens would be bright enough in theater-dark lighting for image sizes ranging from 212 to 287 inches (measured diagonally), assuming a 1.0-gain screen. For moderate ambient light it would be bright enough for a 140-inch image. That easily makes the S510n bright enough under most lighting conditions for the 70-to-100-inch image size its mount is designed for. You can also lower the brightness, if necessary, by switching to Eco mode or one of the lower-brightness predefined modes.

Quality for data images is good to near-excellent overall. The one moderately serious problem that turned up when we viewed our standard set of DisplayMate images was a lack of uniform brightness across the screen, which is common with short-throw lenses. The issue was minor enough that it only stood out as obvious on a solid-color screen. Once having noticed it, however, I saw it on most Windows screens with a white background, even when they were broken up by text and graphics. That said, the uneven brightness is within a tolerable range, and acceptable for most business use.

Color balance was excellent in my tests, with suitably neutral grays at all levels from black to white in all predefined modes, and color quality was good in most modes. Red was noticeably dark in the brightest test mode, and yellow was a little dark, but that's typical for projectors with lower color brightness than white brightness. Colors in general are well saturated and eye-catching.

The S510n holds detail unusually well. With text, for example, white characters on a black background are easily readable at sizes as small as 6 points, and black text on white is crisp and readable even at 4.5 points. Rainbow artifacts (red-green-blue flashes) were obvious on one test image that's designed to bring them out, but I didn't see them with any other images.

Unlike most DLP models, the S510n also does a good job of avoiding rainbow artifacts with full-motion video. I saw them often enough in one dark scene that some people might consider them annoying. However, most of our test clips were either rainbow-free or showed the flashes so infrequently that few people, if any, will find them bothersome. Beyond that, video is watchable, but far from the quality you'd expect from even an inexpensive home-theater projector.

The two 10-watt speakers promise a lot more than they deliver, with too low a volume for more than a small room. If you need sound, plan on plugging an external audio system into the stereo output.

Conclusion
If you need an ultra-short-throw WXGA projector, take a look at the Epson 585W, which is a little brighter than the Dell S510n and does a better job with video. Also consider the BenQ MW853UST+, which includes a wall mount in the price, so you won't have to pay extra for one if you're planning to mount the projector permanently. If you want the ability to connect wirelessly, however, the Dell S510n Projector is the only one of the three that includes Wi-Fi as standard, and the only one with WiDi and Miracast.

Read More

About the Author

M. David Stone is an award-winning freelance writer and computer industry consultant. Although a confirmed generalist, with writing credits on subjects as varied as ape language experiments, politics, quantum physics, and an overview of a top company in the gaming industry. David is also an expert in imaging technologies (including printers, moni... See Full Bio

Dell S510n Projector

Dell S510n Projector

Get Our Best Stories!

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.